CHELIOS' WORDS UNPARDONABLE AFFRONT TO ALL

Kenan Heise.Kenan Heise is a Tribune staff writerCHICAGO TRIBUNE

Even in the cauldron of picket lines, confrontation and protest, the recent threatening words of Blackhawks defenseman Chris Chelios against National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman would be inexcusable, intolerable and chilling to the mind and soul.

And possibly even worse is his "apology."

It has to be clear, within the context of free speech, that his utterance is no more acceptable than if he had yelled "fire" in the midst of a Blackhawks game.

"If I was Gary Bettman, I'd worry about my family, about my well-being right now," Chelios said. "Some crazed fan or even a player-who knows?-might take it into his own hands and figure if they can get him out of the way, this might be settled. You hate to see something like that happen, but he took the job."

These words remind one of those uttered by British King Henry II toward Archbishop Thomas Becket. Henry, tired of his hassles with his former friend turned righteous reformer, complained that no one would rid him of Becket. Four of the king's knights took this utterance far more seriously than it was intended and carried it through, murdering Becket in his cathedral on Dec. 29, 1170.

In Chelios' situation, millions of people heard and saw him. These included, of course, a small percentage of strange fanatics and mentally unbalanced individuals whose buttons best not be pushed. We put limits on our very sacred freedom of speech to protect us from such provocation.

If the hockey player's words had been uttered about the president of this nation rather than about the commissioner of the NHL, Chelios would face felony charges.

The veteran star has apologized and offered to do it in person. His apology included, however, an extraordinarily dangerous justification, or at least mitigation of his earlier action.

"I was emotional and flew off the handle," he said. "I'd just come off the ice after practice. I'd had a bad week, and you keep hearing all week, this guy saying we're not going to play, we're not going to play. I just got mad. In 11 years, I don't think I ever said anything like that."

The key word here is "play." There are men and women in labor disputes threatened with loss of jobs, income, medical care, home and even family. They may curse and swear at their bosses and carry signs expressing their anger and frustration. But no responsible labor leader-in the most ferocious of strike situations-would find acceptable that union members could go on national television and threaten their employer and his or her family in such a way.

In one sense, Chelios has done us a favor insofar as he has blatantly reminded us that sports are games, not life. His words show a lack of acceptance of that fact and his apology even more so.

Baseball, hockey and possibly basketball are putting before us all the issue of strikes, lockouts and labor-management confrontations in a way the American public has not had to deal with them in years. We are challenged not only by our own immediate interests but also by our concern for the shape in which these sports institutions will be left for our children and their children. The questions can be fundamental. The age of the autocratic sports club owners seems to be passing as they are being taken on by athletes asserting their own power.

The TV series "Baseball" has been full of the mistakes of owners in the past, especially in discriminating against black and minority ballplayers. Since the players in each of these sports are demanding more authority, they must be ready to accept greater responsibility.

Certainly, the words of Chelios should inspire and encourage the would-be leaders in the sport to question and challenge the endorsed level of violence in the sport in which he participates. His fellow players are allowed to get away with giving black eyes, loosening teeth and causing gashes. They can do so at will because of a lack of discipline in professional hockey, behavior found acceptable because it brings customers into the arena.

Chelios has done a great disservice to the other players and to all persons in strike or lockout situations by focusing attention on his frustration and uninhibited behavior instead of on their issues. In the short and the long run, that is dangerous, it is bad.